Wireless transceiver apparatus having circuit unit forming frequency resonance mode when operated under reception mode
A wireless transceiver apparatus is provided. The wireless transceiver apparatus includes a signal transmitting circuit, a circuit unit, and a signal receiving circuit. The signal transmitting circuit includes a first output port and is utilized for outputting a first transmission signal via the first output port in a transmission mode. The circuit unit is coupled to the first output port of the signal transmitting circuit. The signal receiving circuit includes a first receiving port and is utilized for receiving a first wireless communication signal via the first receiving port in a reception mode. The first output port is coupled to the first receiving port at a first node. The circuit unit forms a frequency resonance mode to increase an impedance value of the signal transmitting circuit seen by a signal at the first node.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless transmitting and receiving mechanism, and more particularly, to a wireless transceiver apparatus that shares an antenna module.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a wireless communication system, a design of a transmitting/receiving switch (T/R switch) is mainly based on signal insertion loss during signal transmitting, signal isolation between a transmission signal and a reception signal and power handling capability. In practice, no matter whether the T/R switch is realized utilizing a ready-made product or other manner, the cost and the circuit board complexity should be taken into consideration. Therefore, in recent years, with the development of semiconductor process and the requirement of the cost, more and more products aim at having a power amplifier and a T/R switch integrated into one chip simultaneously. Regarding most of the designs having the T/R switch integrated therein, the principle thereof is to respectively control if a signal path of a transmitter end or a receiver end is conductive to determine a working mode. Please refer to
However, since the transmission signal/reception signal will pass through the switch component 101A/101B, the parasitic effects resulted from the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process will still let the signal bear a certain loss even if the other working mode (e.g. a transmission mode) is disabled. As a result, the gain and linearity of the signal would be affected. The current method tries to decrease the signal leakage on the signal path, or change the parasitic resistance value of the substrate in a transistor. However, the significant effect of this conventional method is the greatly increased chip area. Thus, this method is only applicable to a circuit that transmits and receives narrowband signals. Therefore, a body floating technique is proposed to improve the power handling capability of the T/R switch. Since the power handling capability requires accurate control, an extra model for describing the power has to be developed, which increases the design time inevitably.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTherefore, in order to solve the problem mentioned above, one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a wireless transceiver apparatus that shares an antenna module, wherein the antenna module is not directly connected to a circuit at a transmitter end or a circuit at a receiver end via a switch component, and a wireless communication signal (e.g., a transmission signal or a reception signal) does not directly pass through the switch component. Therefore, such design is helpful to mitigating the signal loss and improving the signal isolation and power handling capability.
According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an exemplary wireless transceiver apparatus is disclosed. The exemplary wireless transceiver apparatus includes a signal transmitting circuit, a circuit unit and a signal receiving circuit. The signal transmitting circuit includes a first output port utilized for outputting a transmission signal in a transmission mode. The circuit unit is coupled to the first output port of the signal transmitting circuit. The signal receiving circuit includes a first receiving port utilized for receiving a first wireless communication signal in the reception mode. The first output port is coupled to the first receiving port at a first node, and the circuit unit forms frequency resonance mode in the reception mode, thereby increasing an impedance value viewed from the first node into the signal transmitting circuit.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
Please refer to
More specifically, the circuit unit 220 includes a switch component SW1 and a capacitive component C1. The switch component SW1 includes a first end, a second end and a control end. The first end of the switch component SW1 is coupled to a reference potential (which is a ground potential VSS in this exemplary embodiment). The second end of the switch component SW1 is coupled to the capacitive component C1. The control circuit 225 generates a control signal S_C1 to the control end of the switch component SW1 to control if the switch component SW1 is conductive. The signal transmitting circuit 210 includes an inductive component L1. The inductive component L1 includes a first end and a second end. The first end of the inductive component L1 is coupled to the output port N_OUT1 of the signal transmitting circuit 210, and the second end of the inductive component L1 is coupled to another reference potential (which is a power supply potential VDD in this exemplary embodiment). As to an alternating current (AC) signal, the power supply potential VDD is regarded as ground. Moreover, the conductive component C1 is coupled to the second end of the switch component SW1 and the first end of the inductive component L1. That is, the capacitive component C1 is electrically connected to the output port N_OUT1 of the signal transmitting circuit 210.
When the wireless transceiver apparatus 200 is operated under the reception mode, the signal transmitting circuit 210 is disabled, and the signal receiving circuit 215 is enabled to receive the wireless communication signal S_R1 from the antenna module 205. The control circuit 225 outputs the control signal S_C1 to control the switch component SW1 to be conductive such that the inductive component C1 is coupled to the ground potential VSS via the switch component SW1. In accordance with the design of this exemplary embodiment, the capacitive component C1 and the inductive component L1 form an LC resonator structure with frequency resonance. During the frequency resonance, the input impedance viewed from the node N1 into the signal transmitting circuit 210 is increased to be high impedance. Due to the high impedance, the AC coupled capacitor C will not affect the signal of the signal receiving circuit 215. In this way, the influence contributed from the disabled signal transmitting circuit 210 to the enabled signal receiving circuit 214 may be reduced effectively. The AC coupled capacitor C is utilized for acting as impedance matching required by the signal transmitting circuit 210 to transmit signals when the wireless transceiver apparatus 200 is operated under the transmission mode. However, it is not meant to be a limitation to the present invention. The AC coupled capacitor C in this exemplary embodiment is an optional component. So, by properly adjusting the capacitance value of the capacitive component C1, the capacitive component C1 may resonate with the inductive component L1 of the signal transmitting circuit 210 in the transmission mode, wherein the resonance frequency
is configured to be equal to the operational frequency such that high impedance is formed under circuit's operational frequency to thereby avoid the signal loss by guiding the wireless communication signal S_R1 to the signal receiving circuit 215 rather than the signal transmitting circuit 210. On the contrary, if this resonance capacitor (i.e., the capacitive component C1) is not disposed in the circuit, part of the signal will directly flow into the signal transmitting circuit 210 via the inductive component L1 during signal reception, and causes signal loss which affects gain of the signal receiving circuit.
Moreover, when the wireless transceiver apparatus 200 is operated under the transmission mode, the signal receiving circuit 215 is disabled, and the signal transmitting circuit 210 is enabled to output the transmission signal to the antenna module 205. The control circuit 115 outputs the control signal S_C1 to control the switch component SW1 to be non-conductive such that the capacitive component C1 is disconnected from the ground and stays in a floating status. Therefore, the capacitive component C1 will not affect the signal quality of the transmission signal S_T1 output by the signal transmitting circuit 210. In addition, the signal path between the antenna module 205 and the signal transmitting circuit 210 and the signal path between the antenna 205 and the signal receiving circuit 215 in this exemplary embodiment may have extra capacitive components disposed thereon to perform AC coupling upon a signal (e.g., the transmission signal S_T1 or the wireless communication signal S_R1). Besides, as shown in
Moreover, the spirit of the present invention may also be applied to a signal transmitting circuit utilized for outputting a transmission signal being a differential signal. Please refer to
When the wireless transceiver apparatus 300 is operated under a reception mode, the signal transmitting circuit 310 is disabled, and the signal receiving circuit 315 is enabled to receive a wireless communication signal S_R2 from the antenna module 305. The control circuit 325 outputs the control signal S_C2 to control the switch component SW2 to be conductive. The inductive component C2 is coupled to the ground potential VSS via the switch component SW2. At this moment, the capacitive component C2 and the inductive component L2 in a coil of the balun 3205 form an LC resonator structure with frequency resonance. During the frequency resonance, the input impedance viewed from the node N2 into the signal transmitting circuit 310 is increased to be high impedance. Due to the high impedance, the AC coupled capacitor C will not affect the signal of the signal receiving circuit 315. In this way, the influence contributed from the disabled signal transmitting circuit 210 to the signal receiving circuit 315 may be reduced effectively. The AC coupled capacitor C is utilized for acting as impedance matching required by the signal transmitting circuit 310 to transmit signals when the wireless transceiver apparatus 300 is operated under the transmission mode. The frequency resonance operation of the wireless transceiver apparatus 300 and the related theory are similar to the operation of the wireless transceiver apparatus 200, so it is omitted here for brevity.
Moreover, when the wireless transceiver apparatus 300 is operated under the transmission mode, the signal receiving circuit 315 is disabled, and the signal transmitting circuit 310 is enabled to output the differential signals S_T2 and S_T2′ to the balun 3205 to generate a single-ended transmission signal S_T. The control circuit 325 outputs a control signal S_C2 to control the switch component SW2 to be non-conductive, such that the capacitive component C2 is disconnected from the ground and stays in a floating status. Therefore, the capacitive component C2 will not affect the signal quality of the single-ended transmission signal S_T output by the signal transmitting circuit 310. In this exemplary embodiment, the balun 3205 converts double-ended differential outputs S_T2 and S_T2′ of the power amplifier 3101 into a single-ended output S_T, and the signal receiving circuit 315 is configured in a single-in differential-out structure, which may save an off-chip balun and reserve the common-mode noise filtering characteristic of a differential circuit structure. Besides, considering that the sensitivity of the whole signal receiving circuit 315 may be affected due to the high signal loss of the balun 3205 which may greatly increase a noise figure of the low-noise amplifier in the signal receiving circuit 315, the manner of converting a single-ended input signal into double-ended differential outputs via a balun is not employed in this exemplary embodiment.
Moreover, the spirit of the present also may be applied to a signal transmitting circuit that outputs differential signals and a signal receiving circuit that receives differential signals. Please refer to
When the wireless transceiver apparatus 400 is operated under the reception mode, the signal transmitting circuit 410 is disabled, and the signal receiving circuit 415 is enabled to receive wireless communication signals S_R3 and S_R3′ from the antenna module. The control circuit 425 outputs the control signal S_C3 to control the switch components SW3 and SW3′ to be conductive. The inductive component C3 is coupled to the ground potential VSS via the switch component SW3, and the capacitive component C3′ is coupled to the ground potential VSS via the switch component SW3′. At this moment, the capacitive component C3 and the inductive component L3 form one LC resonator structure with frequency resonance, and the capacitive component C3′ and the inductive component L3′ form another LC resonator structure with frequency resonance. The theory and operation of the frequency resonance of the wireless transceiver apparatus 400 are similar to the operation of the wireless transceiver apparatus 200 shown in
Moreover, when the wireless transceiver apparatus 400 is operated under the transmission mode, the signal receiving circuit 415 is disabled, and the signal transmitting circuit 410 is enabled to output a differential transmission signal pair, including S_T3 and S_T3′, to the nodes N3 and N3′ for transmitting the differential transmission signal pair to the antenna module. The control circuit 425 outputs a control signal S_C3 to control the switch components SW3 and SW3′ to be non-conductive, such that the capacitive components C3 and C3′ are both disconnected from the ground and stay in the floating status. In this way, the capacitive components C3 and C3′ will not affect the signal quality of the transmission signals output by the signal transmitting circuit 410.
Briefly summarized, one operational characteristic of the wireless transceiver apparatuses 200, 300, 400 in the aforementioned exemplary embodiments of the present invention is that there is no T/R switch component (which is an active component) directly disposed on the signal transmission path or the signal reception path of the wireless transceiver apparatus. In other words, the signal is not directly transmitted through the T/R switch component. Thus, the active component will not be connected to the signal transmitting circuit or the signal receiving circuit in the aforementioned exemplary embodiments via a series connection with a signal transmission path or a signal receiving path. The transmitted transmission signal or the wireless communication signal will not encounter the signal loss problem caused by transmitting signals through the active components.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.
Claims
1. A wireless transceiver apparatus, comprising:
- a signal transmitting circuit, comprising a first output port utilized for outputting a first transmission signal in a transmission mode;
- a circuit unit, coupled to the first output port of the signal transmitting circuit; and
- a signal receiving circuit, comprising a first receiving port utilized for receiving a first wireless communication signal in a reception mode;
- wherein the first output port is coupled to the first receiving port at a first node, and the circuit unit forms a frequency resonance mode in the reception mode, wherein the signal transmitting circuit converts a differential transmission signal pair into the first transmission signal in the transmission mode; the signal transmitting circuit comprises: a balun, comprising two input ports and an output port, the balun receiving the differential transmission signal pair via the two input ports, converting the differential transmission signal pair into the first transmission signal, and outputting the first transmission signal to an antenna module via the output port; and
- the circuit unit comprises a first end coupled to the balun and a second end coupled to a reference potential; and the circuit unit couples the first end and the second end in the reception mode, and disconnects the first end from the second end in the transmission mode.
2. The wireless transceiver apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuit unit comprises:
- a switch component, comprising the first end, the second end and a control end, the first end of the switch component being coupled to the reference potential; and
- a first capacitive component, coupled between the second end of the switch component and the balun; and
- the wireless transceiver apparatus further comprises a control circuit utilized for generating a control signal to control an on/off status of the switch component.
3. The wireless transceiver apparatus of claim 2, wherein in the frequency resonance mode, the control circuit outputs the control signal to make the switch component conductive, such that the first capacitive component resonates with an inductive component of the balun to thereby increase an impedance value viewed from the first node into the signal transmitting circuit.
4. The wireless transceiver apparatus of claim 2, wherein in the transmission mode, the control circuit outputs the control signal to make the switch component non-conductive, such that the first capacitive component is in a floating status.
5. A wireless transceiver apparatus, comprising:
- a signal transmitting circuit, comprising a first output port utilized for outputting a first transmission signal in a transmission mode;
- a circuit unit, coupled to the first output port of the signal transmitting circuit; and
- a signal receiving circuit, comprising a first receiving port utilized for receiving a first wireless communication signal in a reception mode;
- wherein the first output port is coupled to the first receiving port at a first node, and the circuit unit forms a frequency resonance mode in the reception mode, wherein the signal transmitting circuit comprises: an inductive component, comprising a first end and a second end, the first end of the inductive component being coupled to the first output port of the signal transmitting circuit, the second end of the inductive component being coupled to a reference potential; and the circuit unit comprises:
- a switch component, comprising a first end, a second end and a control end, the first end of the switch component being coupled to the reference potential; and
- a capacitive component, coupled to the second end of the switch component and the first end of the inductive component;
- wherein the wireless transceiver apparatus further comprises a control circuit utilized for generating a control signal to control an on/off status of the switch component.
6. The wireless transceiver apparatus of claim 5, wherein in the reception mode, the control circuit outputs the control signal to make the switch component conductive, such that the capacitive component resonates with the inductive component.
7. The wireless transceiver apparatus of claim 6, wherein in the transmission mode, the control circuit outputs the control signal to make the switch component non-conductive, such that the capacitive component is in a floating status.
8. A wireless transceiver apparatus, comprising:
- a signal transmitting circuit, comprising a first output port utilized for outputting a first transmission signal in a transmission mode;
- a circuit unit, coupled to the first output port of the signal transmitting circuit; and
- a signal receiving circuit, comprising a first receiving port utilized for receiving a first wireless communication signal in a reception mode;
- wherein the first output port is coupled to the first receiving port at a first node, and the circuit unit forms a frequency resonance mode in the reception mode;
- a control circuit, utilized for controlling the circuit unit;
- wherein the signal receiving circuit further comprises a second receiving port utilized for receiving a second wireless communication signal in the reception mode, and the first wireless communication signal and the second wireless communication signal form a differential wireless communication signal pair; the signal transmitting circuit further comprises a second output port utilized for outputting a second transmission signal in the transmission mode, and the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal form a differential transmission signal pair, wherein the second output port is coupled to the second receiving port at a second node, and the signal transmitting circuit comprises: a first inductive component, coupled to the first output port of the signal transmitting circuit; and a second inductive component, coupled to the second output port of the signal transmitting circuit; and the circuit unit comprises: a first switch component, comprising a first end, a second end and a control end, the first end of the first switch component being coupled to a reference potential; a first capacitive component, coupled to the second end of the switch component and the first output port of the signal transmitting circuit; a second switch component, comprising a first end, a second end and a control end, the first end of the second switch component being coupled to the reference potential; and a second capacitive component, coupled to the second end of the second switch component and the second output port of the signal transmitting circuit; wherein the control circuit controls on/off statuses of the first switch component and the second switch component.
9. The wireless transceiver apparatus of claim 8, wherein in the frequency resonance mode, the control circuit controls the first switch component and the second switch component to be conductive such that the first capacitive component and the second capacitive component resonate with the first inductive component and the second inductive component, respectively; and
- in the transmission mode, the control circuit controls the first switch component and the second switch component to be non-conductive such that the first capacitive component and the second capacitive component are both in a floating status.
10. The wireless transceiver apparatus of claim 5, wherein the signal transmitting circuit further comprises an output power amplifier, and the signal receiving circuit comprises an input low-noise amplifier.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Jul 4, 2011
Date of Patent: Feb 11, 2014
Patent Publication Number: 20120015612
Assignee: Realtek Semiconductor Corp. (Hsinchu)
Inventors: Yi-Chieh Lin (Tainan), Yu-Hsin Chen (Taipei)
Primary Examiner: Andrew Wendell
Assistant Examiner: Maryam Soltanzadeh
Application Number: 13/175,891
International Classification: H04B 1/44 (20060101);